Connoisseur

Tang Dynasty Bronze Mirror Decorated with Engravings of Auspicious Animals,
Grapes, Flowers and Birds

Name and Specifications: Bronze mirror from the Tang Dynasty (618-907) decorated with engravings of auspicious animals, grapes, flowers and birds. This round mirror is 17.3 cm in diameter and hangs from a chain threaded through a pierced round knob on its reverse side.

Market Value: At the Coins and Bronze Mirrors Special Auction held by China Guardian Auctions Co., Ltd. which concluded on August 21, the mirror sold for US $34,600 (RMB286,000).

Technological Features: Until mirrors began to be made from glass in the mid-Qing (1644-1911) Dynasty, Chinese personal grooming was accomplished with the help of a reflection in bronze. As from the Shang Dynasty (16th-11th centuries B.C.) ancient bronze mirrors could be made in all shapes, but were generally round. The obverse side was highly polished, the reverse equipped with a pierced knob and decorated with exquisitely intricate designs. A newly cast bronze mirror was not smooth enough to reflect a clear image until it had been highly polished. As surfaces also dulled with the elapse of time, mirror polishing was an ancient trade. Historical records indicate that as from the Western Han Dynasty (206 B.C.-A.D. 24) bronze mirrors began to be coated with a reflective layer of mercury.

Han Dynasty bronze mirrors represent the pinnacle of artistry in the Chinese history of mirror casting. Designs were based on a broad range of themes, but most popular were birds; the four supernatural beings symbolizing the four quadrants of the earth and the sky; and the animals representing the four earthly directions: Green Dragon (east), White Tiger (west), Scarlet Bird (south) and the Somber Warrior -- a tortoise and a serpent (north). In the Tang Dynasty, when bronze mirror technology reached new heights, mirrors were made in various shapes and decorated with engravings of auspicious animals, bunches of grapes and intertwined dragons. In the Song Dynasty (960-1279), when engraving techniques became refined to the full extent, designs were mostly of flowers and phoenixes. During the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties the emphasis on mirror casting shifted from ornamental to practical. By the mid-Qing Dynasty, glass mirrors had begun to supersede those made of bronze.

Artistic Value: Decoration on the reverse side of the mirror is divided into inner, where there are three pairs of auspicious animals, and outer, which is carved with images of birds in flight, auspicious animals and intertwined grape vines and clumps of grass. These designs are vivid, animated and reflect the prosperity of Tang times. Formerly the property of Tang nobles, the mirror is in extremely good condition.

Photo courtesy of China Guardian Auctions Co., Ltd.